Bobberoo’s Ford Fetish Thread (Warning: Contains Peanut)

Bobberoo’s Ford Fetish Thread (Warning: Contains Peanut)

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Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Wednesday 21st June 2023
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Ok then, who remembers the couple of boxes of bits I recently bought????



No one????


grumpy
Ok then I'll remind you!!!


^^^THAT LOT!!!^^^
Remember now?!?! rolleyes

Well today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic it was all fitted to/poured into/used on/wasted on Rio!! woohoo
The nice chap who mapped him spent 3 of his precious hours fitting the braided lines and doing a complete brake fluid change, and I must say it's made a big difference, much better pedal feel and no more spongyness!!!
Of course it's completely wasted on Rio for where he's going Saturday, however it will hopefully help me on July the 7th at Abingdon!!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Saturday 24th June 2023
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Well, well, well...
Another update for all you diehard Rio fans......
tumbleweed
Oh!!!! frown

Oh well sod you, I'm posting a nupdate just to spite you!!!

Well it has been quite a week for us and for Rio, starting last Saturday he ferried 4 of us and our luggage to that there London, well Greenwich to be precise, where we were spending 3 days and nights exploring many interesting places, the Cutty Sark, the National Maritime museum, Queens house, the Royal Observatory and a whole day at the Tower of London!!! bounce
We left our friends in London, nono no, we didn't just abandon them, they had asked us to bring their luggage back as they stayed on to visit the RA, they is all edumacateded and stuff!!! yes
And so we returned from London to Dahn Sarf on Tuesday, and as you already know Rio went and had "stuff" fitted on Wednesday........confused whadda you mean you didn't know that??? Do you not read nuffink!!!???
It's all up there!!! rolleyes^^^^^^^^
So then, on Thursday he carried 4 of us to Ascot for ladies day, no, a different other 2 people and us!!!rolleyes
It was ok, far too crowded, far too many drunk idiots, loud music, and many, many scantily clad young ladies!!!!
Then on Friday, Rio ferried us and my mum to Bournemouth airport as she was booked on one of those big metal birds to take her back home to Spain, where she lives!!
And now to today, Santa Pod.........


Yes, you did read that right, Rio went to Santa Pod today, where I will be honest and say that he really did acquit himself very well for being just a 1.8TDCi diesel Focus, for a start he wasn't the slowest car there!!!
Secondly, I said from the outset that I'd be really happy with anything under 20 seconds........ first pass........17.49!!! woohoo

Over the 6 runs I did he averaged 17.88, with a max terminal speed of 79.1mph, I managed to keep up with a lovely Datsun 240Z, and beat both a 1.2 Fiesta and a 1.4 Corsa!!! bowtie

A total of 727.5 miles covered this week, I won't say about fuel economy due to the 6 runs today, and today alone was nearly 300 miles, cleaned him yesterday as I wanted him looking his best, but this is what his nose looks like tonight!!!

Zoom in and behold the utter carnage, "many Bothans flies died to bring you this post!!" yes

And next........well.... Abingdon, on the 7th of July...........

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Saturday 24th June 2023
quotequote all
I'm ashamed to say I didn't swerve once!!! yikes

Thanks for the positive feedback nismo48, much appreciated!! smile

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Saturday 24th June 2023
quotequote all
Sai said:
Love it biggrin
thumbup
Cheers, much appreciated!!

If anyone's interested, myself and Rio will be at the Pistonheads 25th anniversary event at Bicester, would be great to meet a few people!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Saturday 1st July 2023
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A small nupdate regarding both Peanut and Rio, Mrs Bobbers got fed up with me continuously taking the Mick about just how dirty Peanut was, so she relented and took her to the nice Eastern European chaps and had her cleaned today!!!
Sadly upon returning home we realised that the black mark I managed to put on her rear bumper when we had to have a valve replaced on one of her wheels a couple of months ago hadn't come off, do out with the polish to try and resolve that and hey presto gone!!! bowtie
I then got a bit carried away with the polish and did all the chrome bits on both Peanut and Rio!!!
Not very clear, but before

And after

I also replaced the windscreen wipers on both cars, my preference being Bosch aero wipers.

Tomorrow I will be at BMW UK for the Pistonheads Sunday service with Rio, if anyone is still reading this and you haven't nodded off, please say hello if you're there tomorrow!!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Sunday 2nd July 2023
quotequote all
I have returned from deepest darkest Farnborough, where I was a Ford Focus shaped thorn in a sea of BMW shaped roses!!!
At the start it was nice, we were turned away from BMW UK HQ and told in no uncertain terms that it wasn't open until 0900, this was at 0845, we were directed to a nearby Morrisons where I discovered a car park half full of BMW'S and just the one, beautiful 66 Mustang owned by Jeremyc!!!

At precisely 0900 hrs all the BMW owners literally ran to their cars and took off popping and banging like a swarm of demented race cars, leaving Jeremyc and I to potter along behind them, where upon we joined the queue..........

Once inside it was a case of being directed by the Gestapo staff to the upper levels of the multi storey car park out of sight of the beautiful people's shiny BMW'S to park up!!
Rio in exulted company, definitely lowering the standards!!!

And a couple more pics of interesting stuff....




Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Monday 3rd July 2023
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Thanks bungz, so sorry to hear of your loss.

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Monday 3rd July 2023
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I did wonder if the parachute was what was holding me back!! hehe

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Tuesday 4th July 2023
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Scrump said:
Great to hear you made it to Senna Pod this year.
Entered Rocky Mountain Race Week?
Sadly not, I didn't want to embarrass the Yanks!!! smile
I did however fill all the forms, sign the waiver and watch the driver briefing training video last night so I'm all set for Friday......

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Saturday 8th July 2023
quotequote all
Well then, where do i begin.........
Are you sitting comfortably children???

Yesterday i took Rio the Rioja blue racing slug to Abingdon aerodrome for my first, and i'm guessing, his first ever track day!!! smile
It was a lovely blue sky, 20+ degree day with a light breeze and lots of sun!!!
I arrived feeling a bit nervous but also excited to be doing it, despite ending up at the guard gate for the army side of the airfield, and being calmly and politely redirected to the correct side of the airfield rolleyes by an armed guard!!!! eek

So i finally found my way to the correct place, i knew it was the correct place cos there were loads to track ready cars loitering about!!!
I pulled in next to a couple of Caterhams, more on the owners and cars shortly, where i proceeded to unload all the completely useless junk i'd taken really highly important equipment and set up my little home from home for the day!!!


I then set about readying Rio for the event, this involved the highly complex task of..............screwing in a tow eye!! smile



I briefly chatted to the guys next to me, then wandered nonchalantly down the pits to sign on........ok, ok, i waddled down there sweating slightly and ogling the track toys!!! rolleyes



Once signed on, allotted to the third sighting session, and confirmed that a very nice chap called Antony was to be my tutor for the track day tuition i'd booked, i nonchalantly walked waddled my way back to Rio, stopping along the way to chat to a work colleague (Dave) and his son (Miles) who are fairly regular visitors to Abingbon with Miles's rather nice Ginetta G40, more on this later!!!


And so upon being called forth to the track for our sighting session, i donned my helmet, and climbed into my track ready race car rally slag............or, if you prefer the truth, Rio the Rioja blue racing slug!!! smile
We were third to last, being followed by three Caterhams, the two guys next to us and another from a bit further back, we all headed out onto track at a slowish pace, did three laps behind the support van, and were then let go to have some fun for a few laps, which is where i very quickly learnt that i was being far, far, far too aggressive with my brakes!!! eek
This happened when i approached the hairpin at the end of the straight, and stood on the brakes at speed, the car slowed quickly, then a bit less quickly, then the pedal was getting soft, and there was the smell of hot brakes!!!! frown
So i slowed my roll and did another lap much slower to let it all cool down, returned to the pits and berated myself, apologised profusely to Rio, prostrated myself at his bumper and begged God to not let his brakes be fooked!!!!

Meanwhile the guys next to me introduced themselves and had a chat about their cars, Rio, life, the universe and exponential existence, some of that may or may not be true......
Anywho, it turned out that there were three guys who were all friends for around 30 years and had met through being pilots!!! One of them had his son with him, a really pleasant lad, and that the pair of them had built their Caterham during lockdown!!! eek
The three guys and the son were all sharing the two cars, one of which is an ex Caterham race series car, and it's owner had competed in a couple of seasons in it!!!


They were all really friendly, and offered some really good advice, told me to get up off the ground and stop talking to my car, wipe my nose, and stop being such a plonker!!!
Around this time a fellow PHer, Byker28i, arrived to see how i was doing and capture some pics, he also very kindly gifted me a GoPro style camera and a shed load of holders, and it was now 1100 and time for my tuition, so i donned my helmet and introduced myself and Rio to Antony, who proceeded to absolutely tear my driving style apart and assemble it back into some semblance of what is the correct way to drive a Ford Focus estate on track!!!


Thanks again to Byker28i for the pics and for giving up his time to come and support me!!!

So after the tuition and having a couple more goes, i started to notice that i was indeed stringing together some half decent laps, yes pretty much everything was passing me, but some of them were struggling to get around Rio on the straights, OI!!! Who said it's because he's got a fat arse?!?!?! grumpy
So i was being followed at this point by Miles and Dave in his Ginetta, along the back straight i pulled over to let him pass but kept on the gas as i was confident he'd out accelerate me.........er, nope, i had to back off as we were running out of space!!! yikes
Upon returning to the pits to have a cool down, and as it was now lunchtime, i took the opportunity to waddle down the pits and chat to a few people, and was very pleasantly surprised to be asked about Rio and his mods and be told by a number of people with much more track focused cars, Miles included, that they were surprised by the speed and acceleration he could muster, and just how committed i was in the bends!!! bowtie

After some lunch Rio and i invited Dave out for a few laps, he didn't scream once, and then it was my turn to be taken out in Miles Ginetta.........OH MY FUKIN GOD it was epic!!!!
I have been out in a few track focused cars, but the level of grip, the force of the braking and the sheer experience is unforgettable!!!

I managed another two stints out by myself, and was really starting to enjoy myself, the feeling of getting it right, the feeling of Rio moving about and yet feeling controlled, yes i was having to scrub off a lot of speed to get him through certain corners, but other corners were now being taken flat out and hard on the accelerator, i was really enjoying it............until i clipped a cone on the hardest part of the track for me, which flipped up and wiped out Rio's passenger side mirror!!! frowncryweeping



Fear not though, he's not beyond saving, and a replacement has already been sourced!!!

I immediately pulled into the pits and declared what had happened, and decided as it was now 4pm that it was probably time i packed up and called it a day anyway.
As i was packing up the support van pulled up behind me and one of the staff gently handed me Rio's broken bits, asking me if i'd like to take them home with me!! laugh
And so all the completely useless junk i'd taken really highly important equipment i'd bought with was loaded back into Rio, i removed the tow eye, put my helmet back in it's bag, stop sniggering, and gently removed us from Abingdon airfield, the journey home was boring and traffic heavy, but i was feeling pretty good.
I grabbed a couple of pics of the state of the tyres after a day hooning around the track, and was both surprised and delighted to see signs of scrubbing but mostly intact tyres!!!



Congratulations if you're still awake at this point, and as a sign of my commitment to bore you to sleep, have a video wot i createded all by my self and managed to lodge on that there YouTube!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0KhIBFORU8

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Sunday 9th July 2023
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I'd be really interested Magoo, sadly Mrs Bobbers just wouldn't let me, mainly due to not having anywhere to store it, oh, and obviously the cost!!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Sunday 9th July 2023
quotequote all
Thanks for the positive feedback chaps, it was a lot of fun!!
As for the trophy, surprisingly Mrs Bobbers wasn't concerned about the damage, stating that at least I had something to prove I was pushing it!!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Sunday 9th July 2023
quotequote all
snoopy25 said:
Nice write up!
thumbup

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Monday 10th July 2023
quotequote all
Eyersey1234 said:
Glad to hear you and Rio had a nice day Bobbers
Cheers Eyersey!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Wednesday 12th July 2023
quotequote all
Today my Ring doorbell told me that Parcelfarce tried to deliver Rio's replacement mirror, so upon arrival home I checked, and found the little bit of paper telling me I needed to retrieve it from our local Post office, which after a walk down to meet Mrs Bobbers from work I duly did!!!
We got back home via the Post office, prepared tea and got it on to cook, then went out to attempt to fit his new mirror.......

That took literally 10 minutes!!! eek
A bit of trim removed, a screw and a nut, a clip and two electrical connectors, done!!!




Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all
It's time for another nupdate, I've noticed that around 60ish there's a wobble from one of the wheels, I've known for a while that one of them has a slight buckle, so I threw caution to the wind and bought another wheel off of EvilBay, was on for £57.60, a particularly random amount from a car recycling company, put an offer in for £50 delivered and to my amazement they accepted!!!
Hopefully it will be no worse than the ones that are already on Rio!!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Saturday 12th August 2023
quotequote all
And so my little chickadees it is time for another episode of.........."Where's Rio this time?!?!?"


And the answer of course is the Pistonheads 25th anniversary event at Bicester!!!
It was a great morning with lots to see, time spent with some friends, hi Byker28i, spikeyhead, Turn7, Mrs Turn7 and Scrump, and some absolutely stunning cars!!!

[url]




If you've been following the thread then you're a sad, sad person, but I'm incredibly grateful!!!
I noticed a wobble from a buckled wheel and that both the front tyres were wearing in the inside, so I decided to go to a small local place to get them to balance the front tyres and look at the tracking, well........it didn't exactly go how I expected it too!!!! grumpy
The "mechanic" there was summoned to look at Rio, he was an unpleasant sort, who proceeded to tell me that there was no way he'd do the balancing or tracking without replacing the front tyres, when I explained that all I wanted was what I'd asked for as the car was getting new tyres after its MOT next month when we got back from holiday, I also tried to explain that part of the reason it was scrubbing the tyres was due to it being lowered, and that's the point at which he told me that my car was completely stock, tried to bounce the front up and down by pushing on the front wing and when he failed to get it to move much declared that the front shocks were fked and needed replacing too!!! rofl

Suffice to say that I left, and took the car somewhere else, who charged me £89 to do a four wheel alignment, which appears to have made the car even worse!!! grumpy


I've come to this conclusion after putting 140 miles on Rio today going too and from Bicester, he feels quite skittish over broken surfaces now, pulls slightly to the right under hard acceleration and the wobble is just downright fking annoying!!! irked

Sssoooo, I took him to a place I've used before, explained the situation, ordered 4 new Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2's, asked for him to have another 4 wheel alignment and for them to find which wheel is buckled and swap it for the replacement one I've picked up, and so he's booked in for this on Tuesday afternoon!!!
In the meantime I jacked him up, whipped the wheels off, pulled the pads and deglazed them, checked all the bushes and generally had a nose around, it all looks good under there still, and I'm pleased to say there's plenty of pad left after over a year of driving and a track day!!! smile
Obligatory pic of a dewheeled Rio, complete with not so shiny EBC braided brake hoses!!!!


Unfortunately I did find a rather disturbing amount of oily crap all over the drivers side of the engine, driveshaft, lower control arm and inner wheel well!!! frown
I suspect that if I don't attempt to clean this up Rio will fail his MOT, however I'm of a mind to let that happen and instruct the garage to fix the issue!!!!

If you've made it this far, I'm both impressed, and dismayed in equal measure, as it probably means that you really don't have anything better to do!!!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Sunday 13th August 2023
quotequote all
Sai said:
Hopefully Rio is cheap and easy fix. smile.

All the best to you and Peanut

Still enjoying the thread massively, keep up the great work.bowbounce
Aaawww, much appreciated Sai!!

Turn7 said:
wavey Ey up Bobbers !

Good to catch up at Bicester, hope you had a good day.......
It was lovely meeting you and your good lady Turn7, and yes i had a great day, lots to see, plenty of food and drink available, and a really nice atmosphere!!
I trust you both had a good day too???

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Sunday 13th August 2023
quotequote all
Turn7 said:
Bobberoo said:
It was lovely meeting you and your good lady Turn7, and yes i had a great day, lots to see, plenty of food and drink available, and a really nice atmosphere!!
I trust you both had a good day too???
Very much so, managed to get home dry, which I didnt think would happen tbh biggrin
You did well then!!! It came down around 11030ish!!!

Bobberoo

Original Poster:

39,171 posts

100 months

Sunday 13th August 2023
quotequote all
Scrump said:
Good to see you at Bicester.
Hope you had a good time.
It was good to see you Scrump, sorry we lost you after the readers cars section, i think you wandered off and met up with some others!!!
It was an excellent day, very well managed, lots to see, and a really good atmosphere, please let Ben and the others know!!